Details discussion on River and Environmental pollution, including its disastrous effects on humankind, should include in a separate chapter in the textbooks of Bangladesh’s national curriculum
Various opinions have appeared in the relevant ministries of the government regarding the addition of new chapters related to rivers and environmental pollution in the textbooks of classes 1 to 10.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education says that the existing textbook includes the subject of environmental pollution in every class, and nothing new should add. Moreover, the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) says that the nature of environmental pollution has changed. A new section needs to include accordingly.
On July 1, 2019, the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court gave a historic verdict for the rivers of Bangladesh. The 283-page judgment said that all the country’s rivers are now living entities. In that judgment, the court directed the Ministry of Education to include the subject of rivers in the textbooks.
In the NRCC meeting on November 15, 2020, necessary measures have taken to include river-related subjects in the textbooks of classes I to XII.
On July 21, 2021, in the 46th meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Shipping, Bangladesh, the chapter on ‘River Pollution and Environmental Pollution’ will be included in the classes’ textbooks 1 to 10. However, even after the passage of two months, no initiative was seen to implement the decision.
Several officials of the NRCC claimed they were unaware of any move to add a chapter on environmental pollution to the textbook.
Neither the Ministry of Shipping nor the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education sent any progress report. They have taken the initiative to find out about it. At the same time, he urged them to take necessary measures.
On September 15, 2021, Manjurul Quader, Secretary of NRCC, sent a letter to the Ministry of Shipping.
The letter sought to know what steps have been taken to include the subject of environmental pollution in the textbooks.
The letter also said that despite requests from the Ministry of Shipping, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Department of Secondary and Higher Education, and the Department of Technical and Madrasa Education, the NRCC had not received any progress report on the matter to date.
